I decided to make the move to an EV a few years ago. This involved selling my M850i coupe (
) and moving to a Porsche Taycan (
). The EV move I don't regret but the Taycan was a complete lemon. Given a range of factors, I also decided to move from a sedan to a SUV. As I was keen to return to BMW, I bought and now drive an iX M60, which has been flawless. It's a great car, with a few challenges that have been addressed in the recent LCI release (front end and seats).It has been hard not to miss the promotion and announcement fervour of the iX3 neue klasse. What appealed to me was the new platform, tremendous range, technology updates and a car that is a little smaller than my iX. One thing which has really surprised me is the iX3 nk is available to order in Australia ahead of the US market. I cannot recall this ever happening before for any new BMW release. Our configurator went live on March 11 and I ordered my new car on March 12. Why is this so? Well one theory I have is the SUV market in Australia is our most bouyant and the Chinese manufacturers (BYD, Zeekr etc) have really targeted the segment with lower priced, higher spec vehicles, putting BMW's position in this segment under threat. The iX3 nk certainly provides a vehicle with the platform, options, pricing, range and performance to better compete.
My order is the iX3 50 xDrive M Sport Pro Package. Colour is Polarised Grey Metallic. I did think of Silver and Blue colour options, but I kept coming back to Polarised Grey and liked the colour, the fact it is a little darker but not too dark and the metallic shows up differently in different lighting conditions (from the videos I've seen). For the interior, I wanted the multifunction seats as some of the reviewers have said they are more comfortable and roomy than the sports seats. As I wanted to add the merino leather option, of the two choices, I liked the look of the black over the Adelaide grey. The Adelaide grey appears to have inserts of alcantara like material which I'm not a fan of on the seats (but it is hard to tell). So I decided on black.
The Sport Pro Package in Australia comes standard with the panoramic sunroof. Now before the iX, this most likely would have been a no go, as I've never been a big fan of the sunroof (Australia has so much light almost every day). However, I have the panoramic sunroof in the iX, and the technology BMW have embeded in this and the experience has been outstanding. I'm assuming it will be similar in the iX3 nk but just in case I've ordered a clip on internal sunroof shade accessory. Let's see. For the wheels, I have 22" in my iX and they are too firm. I think the 21" wheels look better than the 20" on the iX3 and so I opted for this size. On the design I started with the aero wheels but changed the order and moved to star spoked wheels. They look better.
Aside from the exterior colour, interior seats and colour, most of the other options on the car come standard with the package. For those interested below is the complete spec:
In terms of the look of the car below are a few external and internal shots from the 3D config viewer, the only inaccuracy is my car is RH drive:
The next item to cover is the order status. When I order I was originally quoted June/July build with September/October delivery. This was then updated to May/June build with August/September delivery. Pleasingly the requested production week is 14 April! It may be the build falls into late April, here's hoping. Below is the dealer order status showing the status code of 047, which means the order is in the system but it is yet to go through the manufacturing acceptance and scheduling process. In the queue.
In the weeks ahead my order will eventually progress to shipping. Debrecen to Sydney (Port Kembla) is from one side of the globe to the other. I'm assuming the car will be moved by rail from Debrecen to Bremerhaven and then follow one of two shipping routes. The fast route, which is the blue route in this diagram, takes around 32-37 days. The longer route, which is the red route is literally around the world and takes 42-52 days. Of course we have the Iran war underway and we are seeing diesel shortages in Australia already. If the war continues is this likely to impact global shipping, probably. Who knows really.
Looking forward to keeping you updated as my order progresses and responding to any comments or questions. I've really appreciated the early reviews from new owners, please keep them coming.
